RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

What is RPL?

RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) is an assessment of your existing skills and knowledge. You may have been an employee, or involved in a business / community organisation, attended some courses or gained some other qualifications. RPL gives you the chance to bring your work and life experiences together and have them assessed against national standards. It is a process which recognises your learning, no matter where you acquired it.

Why use RPL?

RPL offers some important advantages:

helps you identify the skills and knowledge you already possess, and these may be useful in other careers

helps identify any gap training you may need to obtain a complete qualification

gives you an entry point for further qualifications or other employment opportunities

improves your resume

may support your applications for grants or scholarships

adds to your personal satisfaction and self confidence.

Is RPL for me?

While everybody can apply for RPL, to be successful you will have had a reasonable amount of experience in the area your chosen course covers. This will be more difficult for a recent school leaver. If you are a mature age student with relevant experience, you are likely to be able to use RPL to gain credit.

How do I become involved in RPL?

Complete our Application for RPL form and send us your resume when you enrol in your course. The Application for RPL form is designed to tell us about you, your work history and types of workplaces, and your involvement in community organisations. We will send you our RPL Handbook for your course which gives details of our RPL process and some ideas of types of evidence that may be useful for your assessment. One of our RPL assessors will contact you to talk about this information and to help you choose the units of competency that best match your skills and knowledge.

The Application for RPL form will be sent to you as part of your enrolment pack.

Read the RPL Handbook to familiarise yourself with our process and the types of evidence usually used (details in the RPL Handbook).

Apply for RPL

When your assessor contacts you, he/she will help you choose suitable units for your RPL

Prepare to meet with your assessor, by going through the chosen units and asking yourself if you can provide at least 3 of the 6 types of evidence listed in the RPL Handbook for each unit.

Meet with your assessor (either at your workplace or in our virtual meeting room) with your evidence. Your assessor will discuss each unit with you, so you can demonstrate your experience and knowledge in that unit.

The assessor will make an assessment decision which will undergo validation by RuralBiz Training. Validation either confirms the assessor decision or the assessor will contact you to provide further evidence.